This is a list of obsolete units of measurement, organized by type. These units of measurement are typically no longer used, though some may be in limited use in various regions. For units of measurement that are unusual but not necessarily obsolete, see List of unusual units of measurement. For units of measurement that are humorous in nature, see List of humorous units of measurement.
Area
Antsingae – a unit of area, smaller than the bunarium.[1]
Bunarium (plural "bunaria") – a unit of area, equal to about 120 ares or 12,000 square metres[1]
Cana – a unit of length used in the former Crown of Aragon, at least in Catalonia. It is around the same value as the vara of Aragon, Spain, and Portugal.[3]
Lachter – a unit of length once used in the mining industry in most of Europe. It was usually used to measure depth, tunnel driving and the size of mining fields; it was also used for contract work. In mining in the German-speaking countries, it was the primary unit of length.
Ligne – a French unit of length, roughly equal to 2.25 mm (0.089 in), or 9 points
Yojana – a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India. Its value was about 10 km (6.2 mi), although the exact value is disputed among scholars (between 8 and 13 km or 5 and 8 mi)
Luminosity
Carcel burner – an efficient lighting device used in the nineteenth century for domestic purposes and in France as the standard measure for illumination
Corgee – an obsolete unit of mass equal to 212 moodahs, or rush mat bundles of rice. The unit was used in the Canara (now Kanara) region of Karnataka in India.
Truss – a unit of mass used to describe tight bundle of hay or straw. It would usually be cuboid, for storage or shipping, and would either be harvested into such bundles or cut from a large rick.
Botella − Spanish for "bottle", which has been given various standard capacities at different times and places, and for different fluids.[12] Often-cited figures include 0.95 liters in Cuba (1796), 0.75 liters in Cuba (1862) and 0.7 liters in Colombia (1957).[13]
Deal – a former U.K. and U.S. unit of volume for stacked firewood.[7] A U.K. deal equaled 7 ft × 6 ft × 2+1⁄2 in, while a U.S. deal equaled 12 ft × 11 in × 1+1⁄2 in.[7]
Quibi – a unit of time equal to 10 minutes. First used in Quibi's own Super Bowl LIII advertising campaign, this word saw small amounts of ironic adoption.
Rood – a unit of area or length
Sack – originally a medieval unit of mass, equal to 26 stone (364 pounds, or about 165 kg). Since a unit of dry volume, equal to 24 imperial gallons (about 109 liters).
^Hoong, Tho Lai; Yi, Tho Mun (2008). Interactive Science For Inquiring Minds Volume A. Panpac Education Pte Ltd. p. 33. ISBN 978-9812716187.
^Kisch, Bruno (1965). Scales and Weights. Original from the University of California: Yale University Press. p. 237.
^ William Parry, Louis Albert Fischer,State and National Laws Concerning the Weights and Measures of the United StatesUnited States National Bureau of Standards, 1912 p. 414
^ abcdefghijCardarelli, François (2003). Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins. London: Springer. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4471-1122-1.
^Published anonymously as "Scala graduum Caloris. Calorum Descriptiones & signa." in Philosophical Transactions. 1701. pp. 824–829.
^Nichols, Joannes, ed. (1782). Isaaci Newtoni Opera quae exstant omnia. Vol. 4. pp. 403–407.
^Silverman, Mark P. (2002), A Universe of Atoms, Springer, p. 49, ISBN 9780387954370
^Trudel, Marcel, Introduction to New France, p. 222
^sizes.com lists figures for bottles in Bolivia from 460 ml to 1 liter.
^McCusker, John (2005). Essays in the Economic History of the Atlantic World. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 1134703406.
^ abcPelton, Robert W.; Pelton, W. Pelton (2004). Baking Recipes of Our Founding Fathers. Infinity Publishing. pp. 263–264. ISBN 0741419440.
Further reading
Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures; Jan Gyllenbok; Birkhäuser; 2018; 3 Volumes.
Historical Metrology: A New Analysis of the Archaeological and the Historical Evidence Relating to Weights and Measures; Algernon Berriman; Praeger; 1970; ISBN 978-0837124247.